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Giants
Giants are large humanoids that are the descendants of Annam the All-Father, a powerful god-like being, that have roamed Feyor for centuries. They are some of the most feared beings on the planet and are usually avoided by other races, and those who don't usually find themselves in a cage or a pot. History When the All-Father first came to Feyor, he saw that the races were very young and took it upon himself and his wife Othea to give them a race to bow down to. Being one of the oldest races on Feyor, the giants believed that they should rule the world and set up their capital of Ostoria very far north, almost at the north pole, as they believed it to be the "top" of the world. The giants then began to form their own societies all across the globe, but they found many difficulties as they separated from the All-Father and from each other. Dragons were the most prominent rivals to the giants as they shared a similar desire to conquer and arrogant temperament. Groups of Giant-kin, such as ogres and trolls, also began their own societies and fought with the giants regularly. Of the more advanced civilizations, Dwarves were the most steadfast at keeping out the giant incursion due to their underground facilities and quick adaption to fighting giants. Eventually, the main downfall of the giants was the infighting between clans. Each one was founded by a child of the All-Father who strive to be his favorite, and this attitude of sibling rivalry passed down to each generation and grew into more bitter feuds. At one point a green dragon named Dryvan manipulated the leader of the fire giants to build a ladder to the cloud giant capital city Heavensroost and invade. This was the final straw for the All-Father, and he then left the Prime Material Plane and locked Ostoria promising not to return until his children could get along. Ever since that day the giants' civilizations have suffered and are mostly scattered. Types of Giants One quality that has greatly aided the Giants' survival is the diversity of skills that each giant type provides, and the downfall of the giants as a whole has been the schisms that broke their pact of brotherhood. Storm Giants "The oldest and wisest of the giants got this way by being first and having the undivided attention from Annam. Thus he had time to teach them about magic, the way of the elements and how they were connected to it, and about history of the multiverse." Cloud Giants "While Storm giants were still the new babies they desired to please their brothers and Father by entertaining and being clever and witty. They later learned to apply this kind of thinking to outsmarting their foes on the battlefield and in the court room." Frost Giants "Frost giants came to be born during the first great time of struggle when Tiamat and Bahamut were in a race to take over Feyor with their dragons. The fear caused by this lead to Othea's offspring to be plagued with worry from the beginning, and Annam encouraged them to overcome that fear with rage on the battlefield to smite their enemies. While this made them fierce warriors it also lead to them being paranoid and always ready to attack. Othea's tears for what had happened to her children froze and gave them the element of frost." Stone Giants "After seeing what Annam did to her last child, Othea decided to take a more active role in parenting the stone giants. She lead them away from violence but instead to devoting one's time to a craft. This lead to them being artisans that would work to meticulous detail. Annam initially scoffed at this, even though their greatest enemies had been dealt with at the time, and sent them to live in caves where he did not have to see them. This just encouraged them further as they carved grand murals into the walls and ceilings of their homes. After the Fire Giants had improved upon the art of smithing, many stone giants joined up with them to increase the artistry involved with their weapons and armor. This had impressed the All-Father a lot more, and they won back his approval. Cloud Giants also greatly enjoyed the many art pieces made by the stone giants and had them on commison or even had them move in with them in the sky, which lead the stone giants to believe they were in a dreamlike state and inspired more creativity." Fire Giants All giants have a hatred for the Dwarves, who sought to war against them and ended up cutting off the Storm Giants only major strong hold from the rest of them, but none hold a bigger grudge than the fire giants, because betrayal only comes from those you trust. Fire giants were among the last type of giant to be born into the world by Annam and Othea, and at the time the other giants had their roles in the ordning well in place. The way the All-Father appointed these roles to his children was to send them out into the world to find what they could contribute, however the fire giants struggled to find their place. While most lived out in the savannahs to the south, some had gone to live with their stone giant brothers within the mountains. The giants had been aware that the smaller folk tend to use weapons and shield made from bronze or iron, however giants saw little use as it was much easier and effective to use large rocks and trees and knew of no way to get enough to even make weapons appropriate for their size. Then one day as a young giantess named Culla was herding her bison in the hills, she heard a small cry for help coming from underneath a pile of stones. She lifted it to find a dwarf in heavy plate that had been caught in a rock slide. The dwarf, Benzir, begged to be taken home as his legs were broken, and of course she couldn't refuse. Benzir lead her to the hidden city within the mountaintop where even the stone giants wouldn't go, but he told her of a hidden entrance where she crawled through with the dwarf on her back. When she made it to the city the dwarves fired upon her with ballista until they saw Benzir on her back. Appreciative of the favor, and apologetic for the assault, the dwarves agreed that they were in her debt. Being impressed by their weapons and armor, Culla asked them to make a set of plate armor for her. The dwarves were wary of sharing their secrets at first, however they were also excited to see if they could make armor large enough for a giant, so they accepted this task. As the weeks went by she continued to visit and befriend the dwarves as they made her suit and picked up on some of their techniques. Eventually the armor was complete, and she adorned it in the city for them to marvel at their creation. On the way out though, her armor got caught in the tunnels and she could not get out. The Fire Giants would tell you that the dwarves had built it too bulky to trap her on purpose, and the dwarves would say that she was a fool for not taking her armor off first and if it were not for her thrashing they would have helped pull her free. Believing this to be a trap, Culla screamed and screamed loud enough that her fellow giants could her her from many miles away, although Dwarven scholars believe they were right outside ready to attack either way, and came they did. The Fire giants tore through the mountain to free her and then revealed the whole city to the mountain side. Angered by the perceived betrayal, Culla lead the giants to capture and enslave all of dwarves and forced them to teach them their secrets. After this they began building their own strongholds in those mountains and capturing the dwarves to use as slaves. This story has been used to justify the Giants' hatred and cruelty towards the dwarves for centuries. Some Dwarves tell this story to instill in their children not to trust any outsiders, and Benzir was reviled for revealing their location rather than dying. Hill Giants Hill giants were not always the disorganized brutes that they seem to be today. They were once a very organized and efficient task force of laborers and farmers that were the back bone for the growth and prosperity for all giant kin. They were the only group of the giants to truly embrace agriculture as most other settlements, being high in the clouds, deep underground, or in the frigid tundra, were not ideal for growing crops. The other giants mainly used animals as their main food supply, however, they did see the benefits of a more stable supply of food and took their own small clans of hill giants to work with them. This lead to a lack of identity for the hill giants that prevented them from forming larger settlements. After the in fighting lead Annam to breaking of from his children, most giants went into isolation from one another and took their hill giant laborers with them. Those that remained independent were seen as easier targets for powerful beings like dragons, aboleths, mind flayers, and ambitious humans and wizards who sought a cheap source of labor. Without their older and more powerful brethren to protect them, the hill giants were either slaughtered or enslaved by their neighbors, especially those who had been enslaved by the fire giants, and it is unclear if any of their villages remain. Eventually future generations of hill giants born into slavery managed to escape or overthrow their captors, leading to them roaming free, but without the older generations to teach them how to survive they often had to resort to raiding for food and treat outsiders of the race that enslaved them as hostiles. Sometimes after they freed themselves from a farm or plantation they'd continue to operate it under their own control, but most want to have nothing to do with the place they were enslaved. Hill giants that remained with their other giant brethren remain as laborers but have assimilated with the culture of their masters. They do, however, remain sympathetic to their hill giant kin that were enslaved and often works towards freeing them. This is often seen as a threat by the other giants as the hill giants could reform and leave their masters, so many refuse entry of hill giants that were formerly slaves and cast out any that try to bring them in. Frost giants do not share in this and often try to use freed slaves for their anger as berserkers to fight alongside them against dragons and other powerful foes. Stat Changes from base game: Intelligence is increased to 8, Wisdom is increased to 10, and Charisma is increased to 12 as they are made to work well with other giants. Miscellaneous Giants/Giant Kin Fomorians "Early on, a group of cloud giants went into the Feywild in order to steal the secrets of the fey. The Unseelie Court punished these intruders by taking away their beauty and wits making them dull and grotesque creatures that hide in the Feydark." Cyclopes "Rumored to be a love child between Othea and a beholder, Cyclopes are a large one-eyed race of giants that live in mountains near temperate shores. They often herd cattle for food and are not particularly intelligent but do have a strong reverence for dreams and sometimes act as interpreters for those brave enough to ask a cyclops. They often eat or capture smaller humanoids. Ogres Trolls Half-Giants